History PaperThinDisguise / WesternAnimation

* In a ''WesternAnimation/SylvesterTheCatAndTweetyBird'' cartoon, Sylvester attempts to disguise himself as an organ-grinder's monkey in order to infiltrate Tweety's apartment. Initially it seems as though his disguise was actually working, but then he lifts his hat up and Granny whacks him in the head, with her also saying "Did you really think I would be fooled by that disguise?", making this a subversion similar to the Mr. Burns example.

* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019''. When the Riddler takes over Gotham University, Harley and Poison Ivy try to infiltrate the school by disguising themselves as college students, with Ivy going as far as to cover her green skin with makeup. However, Riddler isn't fooled for one second since [[RealityEnsues they're 30-something women trying to pass themselves off as college girls]]...not to mention their clothes were [[TotallyRadical over a decade out of fashion]].

* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019''. When the Riddler takes over Gotham University, Harley and Poison Ivy try to infiltrate the school by disguising themselves as college students, with Ivy going as far as to cover her green skin with makeup. However, Riddler isn't fooled for one second since [[RealityEnsues they're 30-something women trying to pass themselves off as college girls]]...not to mention their clothes were over a decade out of fashion.

* Used in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', when three adult-sized (male) crooks put on Powerpuff Girl costumes and somehow manage to deceive the entire town.
** Not to mention, once they meet up, the girls themselves and ''each other''. And the disguises were merely correctly-colored clothing and cardboard cutout masks.
** The only one not fooled by the disguises was [[OnlySaneMan Ms. Bellum]]; she saw their body hair and bad manly body odor, and the fact that they kept hitting on her.

** "Arnold's Valentine" has Helga pose as Arnold's French pen-pal Cecile for a Valentine's Day date. To do this, she gets a new hairdo, puts on a dress and heels and dons makeup. Seems like a reasonable disguise, but there are several flaws. One, [[ChromaticArrangement the dress is still pink]]. Two, she's still wearing her trademark [[HairDecorations pink hairbow]]. Three, no amount of makeup short of full-on Wrestling/{{Sting}} facepaint could disguise someone as instantly recognizable as Helga. And finally, [[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent she makes no attempt to disguise her voice or accent despite portraying a French girl.]] What's worse is that Arnold actually buys it.

* Glaringly obvious in ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'', where everyone notices Stitch isn't a normal dog, but Jumba, a six-foot tall ''purple guy with four eyes and four fingered hands'' and his partner Pleakley, ''who has an exposed antenna, 1 eye, and three fingered hands'' are able to pass for human with human clothes, combined with glasses and a wig respectively. Nani ''does'' notice the weird shape of Pleakley's head, but assumes it became swollen after Stitch chewed on it. Jumba casually replies "Actually, [Pleakley's] just ugly".

* Cosmo and Wanda from ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' have passed, floating and all, with signs that read "Normal" and "Human", respectively. They don't even bother with a disguise at a comic convention, as everyone assumes they're wearing costumes.

** Timmy's had a few, but the disguise in "Shiny Teeth" takes the cake: by simply wearing a tiara, no one, neither his enemies or a friend he has rescued before, can recognize him.

** [[WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower His sister was pretty much the same.]] She-Ra's only real difference from Adora was longer hair and a change of clothing that didn't hide her face at all, and seeing as Alura was an ActionGirl in her own right who used to ''work'' for Hordak before her HeelFaceTurn (as a moderately high-ranking officer, no less), you got the idea that the Horde was kind of dumb.

[[caption-width-right:350:[-Well, it ''is'' [[TheDitz SpongeBob]], so this isn't remotely surprising.-] ]]

** Punch, the Autobot double agent, possesses a "second robot mode" that allows him to go undercover as the Decepticon Counterpunch. Said second robot mode basically consisted of turning around so that his back was now his chest, shifting the arrangement of the car parts on his shoulders, and pulling a visor to cover one face and reveal another. It's surprisingly convincing from the front... but turn him around and you see literally all of Punch's formerly front-facing detailing on full display. They also still have the same altmode, and neither side has any other blue sports cars with red hubcaps. It doesn't help that in his most famous cartoon appearance, he outright claimed that he was going to leave to look for his Autobot counterpart, because "I've heard he's nearby... ''real'' nearby."

** In the third season, Callum dresses up as an elf. And his disguise is just as thin as Rayla's. He ties sticks to his head, which are supposed to imitate the horns of elves. He squeezes two fingers together to make it look like he has four instead of five fingers. However, he still has human, round ears, a human hair color and clothing. You can even see the ribbon that holds its "horns" together.

** In the tie-in ''Unleash the Light'' game, a new character is introduced who, suspiciously, has the same voice, build, colors, and massive blonde afro as Hessonite, the villain of ''Save the Light.'' Steven immediately recognizes her, which prompts the mysterious new Gem to explain that it makes perfect sense that people would think she was Hessonite, since [[ButHeSureSoundsHandsome they're both immensely talented and accomplished.]]

** Punch/Counterpunch, full stop. His Autobot counterpart is reeeal nearby... Only exacerbated by the fact that his "second robot mode" basically consisted of turning around, lowering his shoulders, and pulling up a visor.

** Cubert Dwight and Tinny Tim were able to steal from Fry and Bender's apartment in plain sight of Fry by wearing crudely drawn Bender masks... all three of them at the same time.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/ElTigre'' with Sergio's disguise as his villain alter ego Señor Siniestro. It's actually a very convincing disguise and he's able to fool Manny and Frida. His habit of fawning over Frida is the only thing that could give him away.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' cartoons:

** In the ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' episode, "[[Recap/SonicBoomS1E4Buster Buster]]", [[ThoseTwoBadGuys Orbot and Cubot]] rob a deadly equipment warehouse wearing only poorly-drawn masks of Sonic and Tails, respectively.
** Subverted in the ''Sonic Boom'' episode, "[[Recap/SonicBoomS2E41WhereHaveAllTheSonicsGone Where Have All The Sonics Gone?]]"; Morpho, being a shapeshifting robot from another dimension, can disguise himself perfectly as Sonic. It's the fact that he knows nothing about Sonic, and therefore can't act like him, that makes his disguise paper-thin.

** Mr. Boss ridicules the Toilenator in "Operation: F.L.U.S.H." by mentioning that he was once fooled by Numbuh One in disguise, even though the disguise consisted solely of a T-shirt that said "[[MostDefinitelyNotAVillain I'm not Numbuh 1]]." (Of course, the Toilenator isn't all-too bright...)

** Mr. Boss ridicules the Toilenator in "Operation: F.L.U.S.H." by mentioning that he was once fooled by Numbuh One in disguise, even though the disguise consisted solely of a T-shirt that said "[[MostDefinitelyNotAVillain I am not Numbuh One]]." (Of course, the Toilenator isn't all-too bright...)

** In "Helga's Locket", Helga accidentally loses her precious Arnold locket--which she's just had engraved with a signed message declaring her love--and Grandpa finds it, prompting her to attempt various schemes to get it back before he and Arnold and can open it. At one point, she disguises herself in a black trenchcoat, derby, glasses, and fake mustache and calls herself "Bernard Flotsam," a rich antique art collector. This somehow manages to fool Grandpa despite several near misses (such as a pigtail poking out from beneath the hat or her voice slipping back into its normal register). When she does manage to snatch the locket and make a break for it, (only to lose it again when Grandpa trips her with the rug. As Helga retreats, Grandpa screams "AND YOU FORGOT YOUR MUSTACHE!"